


Mastering the Art of the Mixtape

by sarahcakes613



Series: Westeros in the 90's [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Puppy Love, mixtapes are still the bomb diggity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 04:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7603168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahcakes613/pseuds/sarahcakes613
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin's cousins give him advice on love, and he takes it to heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mastering the Art of the Mixtape

**Author's Note:**

> Blame 90's Britpop for this one.

 

Arya is used to Robin falling in love. He’s been in love twice this summer already. First, it had been his uncle’s wife. She’d broken his heart gently, pointing out their age difference and also that she was his aunt. Second was his next door neighbour Mya, who ruffled his hair and told him to give her a call in ten years.

“She called me a _cute kid_!” He wails to Arya one evening as they are sitting in the Stark’s den. Arya and Sansa are huge fans of the new show _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ , and they’ve assured Lysa that it is really very educational, so Robin is permitted to come over every Monday after dinner to watch it. Arya looks at her cousin from between her bangs. She’s trying to grow them out so she can wear her hair like Buffy, but right now they’re at that akward midpoint where they’re too short to tuck behind her ears and too long to gel to the side. Sansa keeps offering her hair clips, but they all have butterflies on them, as if Arya would wear grody butterfly clips.

“Will I ever find love, Arya?” Robin moans. He lays his head on her shoulder and puts on his best puppy-dog face.

“Robin, you’re 12. Shouldn’t you be more worried about finding the perfect trading card?” Robin has recently started playing fantasy card games. It was something else his mother worried about, until his father had pointed out that Robin’s godfather and namesake Robert Baratheon was in point of fact a local league champion in tabletop gaming.

Robin sniffed his nose at that, but it distracted him enough that he stopped wailing about his love life. At least, for the duration of the night’s episode. As soon as it is finished, Robin turns to Sansa and asks what she thinks. This time, he’s asked the right cousin, and Sansa listens patiently to his woes, even making some suggestions for how he might woo the next woman lucky enough to be the object of his affections.

“Mixtapes are great,” she tells Robin, who is now making notes in the back of his RPG player’s handbook. “Choose songs that describe them, or what they mean to you, songs that really speak to the emotions they make you feel.”

“Make sure they aren’t to old for you this time, too.” Arya pipes up. Robin looks over at her thoughtfully, and scratches another note in his book.

* * *

 

A week later, Robin is back, and he is glowing with the look of a boy who is trying a new acne treatment. He’s brought some homemade muffins, and he watches Arya carefully as she bites into one.

“These are good, cuz. What’s in them?” Arya asks, taking a second one.

Robin glows further. “Coffee streusel. Did you know coffee is a stimulant? It’s very good for the heart.”

“Huh.” Arya makes an interested-sounding noise, focusing more on the muffin than his explanation. “Y’know, coffee also stunts your growth. I better eat these all so you don’t stay a shrimp.”

Sansa walks in then, carefully balancing a bowl of microwave popcorn and three bottles of fizzy orange juice. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. There’s no hope for Arya at this point, her growth is already stunted.” She jokes. Arya blows a raspberry at her, and Sansa responds by tossing popcorn at her, which Arya just manages to catch in her mouth.

“Do you think I should be taller, Arya?” Robin asks. “I mean, do girls like a boy taller than them? What if they are the same height?”

Sansa’s interest is piqued at this last question. “Robin, have you fallen in love again? What’s she like?”

Robin’s glow subsides to a ruddy blush. “She’s very smart, and we have the same taste in television, and I am certain she is not too old for me.”

Sansa cheers for him, and Arya gives him a good-natured noogie on the head.

* * *

 

Arya is cleaning up the few bits of popcorn her mouth and dog have both missed, when she finds the tape. It is labelled in a scrawl of cursive, “ _For my beloved cousin, Arya, with love from Robin.”_ Oh dear.

“Uhhh Sansa?” Arya calls out.

Sansa pokes her head into the den. “What’s up?”

Arya holds up the cassette tape. “Remember how you told Robin to make a mixtape for the girl he loves? The girl who is apparently close in age to him and likes the same television programs?”

Sansa gasps, clapping a hand over her mouth. “Oh he didn’t!”

Arya nods. “He did. He’s gone and fallen in love with his damn cousin, and it’s me!”

“Well, grandma and grandma are first cousins once removed, so I mean, why not?” Sansa bursts into giggles as Arya glares at her. “Oh come on Arya, he’ll be over you and in love with the bus crossing lady in a week. Come on, let’s listen to the tape!”

Arya and Sansa run upstairs to their shared room, and Arya pops the tape into their boombox. The tape opens with Diana King saying a little prayer, which isn’t the worst song, Arya supposes, but the effect is ruined by the next song. Robin has chosen “Your Woman” by White Town. Really, Arya thinks it’s probably for the best that he’s given his first mixtape to her. Talk about mixed messages, she’s going to have to make some suggestions before he makes another one.

As Arya continues to listen to the tape, she makes a mental note of the suggestions she will give Robin.

Rule 1, no more Prodigy.


End file.
